I was extremely disappointed with my Miata.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1702105404.jpg

ugh...

One broken head stud in the block and its not coming out without a fuss.

It was unavoidable. That stud was stuck and not moving. The EZ out tool wasn't working so I'm either going to put it on the mill or take it to a machine shop.

:mad:

Jealous here too. I have my own Speedster project that I’m working on now that I’m being too much of a perfectionist on. It takes some of the fun out of it. A Sprite - I could really cut loose and have a ball with it.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1704935858.jpg


Got a call from the machine shop. They inspected the block and crank and told me what parts to order and I went over to British Auto Service to order pistons and bearings.

So the ball is moving, slowly.

In the mean time I painted the hubcaps and wheels. This is a budget restoration so I rattle canned the hubcaps silver and shot the wheels with Rust-oleum gloss black.

I bought tires from Walmart. I found 145/80R13 on their site and they fit so they fit my criteria for tires (round and black).

All four hubcaps were dinged, scraped and rusty. New run about a C note so I ground down the flaky chrome, filled the dents with JB Weld and painted them silver.

Those hubcaps look great! I saw a Sprite at my home improvement store last week. It is so tiny!

The college kid across the street from me had a white one when I was about 15 or so…I was so jealous! That and the TR3 were my faves at the time. Have fun!

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I stopped by the machine shop last week and they are done with the block but still need to grind the crank.

Slowly chipping away at this car. I got the engine tin painted and I went with Rustoleum forest green from the local hardware store.

I got the axle primered yesterday and going to give it another coat of black this afternoon. The axle had 65 years of crud that needed to be scrapped off and that took a couple days.

This is awesome. I am living vicariously here.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1710562839.jpg

Removing the old bushings. I first tried a torch and got the first one out but cut thru the ring that seats the bushing. For the 2nd I used a hacksaw and that did work but was tedious and took a while so for the last two I used the mill for a broaching operation and got them out EZ.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1710563065.jpg

New bushings are coming and I'll paint the links tomorrow.

Me too...fond memories of times spent in a deceased buddy's '60.

What color are you going to paint it?

going for a pale primrose

https://www.classiccarshop.co.uk/hom...5938cc7ae2.JPG

[QUOTE=otto_kretschmer;12214262]going for a pale primrose

Your car looks great, I wish one would follow me home !
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1710711506.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1710902246.jpg

Got the block and crank from the machine shop today.

Anyone have any tips on post machining cleaning? I took a pressure washer with soap to the block and scrubbed all the surfaces with a nylon brush. Then blew it dry with compressed air and soaked it with WD40. I want to paint the block so I'm going to wash it again tomorrow and wipe down the machined surfaces with a clean oily rag.

I have a left-over bottle of this from my British car days.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1710906352.jpg

My buddy who owned one had an "in" with the operators of highway use scales...think it was 1,400 pounds. Yes, they are tiny..and light.

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Checking the machine shop's work. I'm going to get some plastigauge and check the clearances and probably measure the bearings for redundancy.

So far so good.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1711249967.jpg


Crank going in today. Still have to check end float so I can't torque it yet.

Had too much end play. Book calls for .002-.003 and I had .005 to .006.

So new thrust washers were in order. British Auto Service was closed today so I used the lathe to make one. I didn't have round stock big enough (2 1/2" dia) but I had scraps of sheet metal that were thick enough so I used that.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1711403365.jpg

Fantastic! Is the factory thrust washer aluminum, too?

Old on the top right, the ones I made this morning on the bottom lefthttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1711404109.jpg

I'm having lunch right now. I'll see how the new washers work later this afternoon.

New thrust washers are only $12 a set so sometimes I wonder why I'm doing things like this. Then I wonder why don't I just get a new car and not mess with a 65 year old car that was pulled out of a barn. New washers may not work so why not see if I can make them myself?

:)

Its odd. I have two engines worth of parts, and some parts of a 1275. Some of the thrust washers are aluminum and some are bronze/brass/copper

I don't know what alloy I used. It was just a bit of scrap aluminum sheet I had laying around.

I don't have a clue why BMC went with a thrust taken by the middle web of the block. Every other vehicle I've seen takes it at the flywheel end. There are four thrust washers. Two are on the web on each side and two are on the main bearing cap on each side. None of the washers have the same thickness. So with the tolerance stackup with the cap and web thickness and cap location I would have to do a blue check to see what washer parts are taking the thrust.

When I get the right backlash on the dial indicator I'm going to call it good and move on.

I was flip flopping this week. I discovered the OEM thrust bearings are steel with a copper surface so I ordered a set of new bearings and they came today. I installed them and found the run out to be .008, so a step backwards. I don't see any oversize thrust washers available for the 948 engine so I'm forced to make something on the lathe again. The two I made on Monday I'm not happy with so I'll try again but I'm want to ask people here what they think about material.

Should I use aluminum, brass, bronze or copper? I'm going to Industrial Metal tomorrow for a look at whats available. Maybe they have 2 1/2" hex or round stock. If not, I'll have to use sheet again and cut it on an arbor.

6061-t6 sheet may be what I end up with.

3rd attempt at making thrust bearings.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1711937769.jpg

This time I used 120 grit sand paper and ground the bearing down to what I wanted.

Runout tolerance is .002-.003 and its at .002 and I can torque the main caps and start on the rods and cam.

We all know you're giving this a lot more thought and effort than the manufacturer did when they built the engine. Fun to watch the progress. Can't wait to see it assembled.

This is the collection of thrust bearings I ended up with. The new set, the old and the three I made this week.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1711940791.jpg

Unfortunately the bearings on the web will take all the thrust. I used the old bearings with the ears on the cap and all they do is prevent the bearings on the web from rotating. I was thinking about making the cap bearings but I would have to do it on the mill, make a tool to hold the material on our rotary table, and the mill is down for a month so I'm not going to bother. I think the upper bearings can do the job alone.

:(

Otto, Is that lathe an Emco model? That green looks familiar ;)

It's a Grizzly. Made in China. It's ok. Does the job for what we need. I cut threads for a bicycle headset lucknut.

I had a thought this morning. I could have taken the old bearings and used silver solder to add a couple thou on the thickness and sanded them to size. I may do this for the cap bearings.

When you make these bearings, do you make two sets the same size so when you cut them in half you can get perfect halves?
In other words when they're laid flat on a table and two halves are put together do they make a perfect circle?

No,

just take a hacksaw to the ring after I'm done on the lathe and cut it in half. Good enough. The OEM bearings are punched from steel sheet with a die and then plated with copper. They're made by the hundreds of thousands.

I don't want to make the bearings too tight either. When the engine gets hot, the aluminum parts expand more than the steel and iron parts so the tolerances and fit must be considered. All these bearing do is keep the crank in place. Too tight and things will bind. Its probably better to be on the loose side.

Its not hard to get these bearings out with the engine assembled in the car. Drop the oil pan and the pick up tube then remove the center bearing cap and the bearings come out. Most cars you must remove the tranny and flywheel.

I torqued the main cap bolts today and the crank spins freely so that gives me confidence that I'm on the right path. This is my first car rebuild in 24 years so I'm taking it slow. I rechecked the runout after torqueing the bolts and its still at .002.

For future reference - BPNW stock 5 thou oversize. Moss stocks 3 thou 5 thou and 10 thou oversize.

Do you have a link? I only see the std thrust bearings at BPNW.

https://bpnorthwest.com/austin-healey/thrust-washer-set-std-848-948/

I'd love a Sprite if I had more garage space. There's a bmw crossflow head goes on that engine, and they take a supercharger nicely too. Just saying.

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Pistons and rods are in.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1712288069.jpg

More parts coming in tomorrow.

I saw a really sweet looking orange Bugeye headed west on the Red Mtn 202 near the Higley/Greenfield ramps. He was scooting’ along at nearly 80. My cruise was set at 72 and was pulling away rather quickly.

Had a personalized plate that read “59…”.

Anyone you know?

nope, but I'd like to meet him some day

I'm still waiting for the machine shop to finish the head.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1719886509.jpg


Got the head on and torqued. :D

Set the valve lash today too... .012 according to my book. Hope thats right. It seems too loose, especially for a water cooled engine.

baby steps